Charge depositing mechanism for closure liner applying apparatus



1959 E. A. WILCKENS ET AL 2,870,479

CHARGE DEPOSITING MECHANISM FOR CLOSURE LINER APPLYING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 14, 1955 v 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 1.-

INVENTORS EIBE A. WILCKENS, EDWARD M. REDDING,

WILLIAM c. RAINER ATTORNEYS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 27, 1959 E. A. WILCKENS ET AL CHARGE DEPOSITING MECHANISM FOR CLOSURE LINER APPLYING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 14, 1955 Now vtFL m2 g w & x 39 3 2; gm 0: mt. m

Jan. 27, 1959 E. A. WILCKENS ET AL 2,

CHARGE DEPOSITING MECHANISM FOR CLOSURE LINER APPLYING APPARATUS 1 Filed NOV. 14, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS EIBE A. WILCKENS, EDWARD M. REDDING, WILLIAM c. RAINER- ATTORNEYS fl i MM Jan. 27, 1959 I E. A. WILCKENS ETAL 2,870,479

CHARGE DEPOSITING MECHANISM FOR CLOSURE LINER APPLYING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 14, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORS EIBE A. WILCKENS, EDWARD M. REDDING, WILLIAM C. RAINER ATTORNEYS E. A. WILCKENS ET AL 2,870,479

5 Sheets -Sheeo 5 Q a 8 l 3 8 .e 2 w l 0 2 7 2 a 4 z 4 w m 1 3 II Jj 1k a -u n 2 Q 0 T a mm m 2 m mwfi w m m. 5 l9 \1 i t w m m In m I i 4 M. -84 /6 m H 9 l W .l m 4 M Jan. 27, 1959 CHARGE DEPOSITING MECHANISM FOR CLOSURE LINER APPLYING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 14, 1955 INVENTORS EIBE A.'WILCKENS. EDWARD M. REDDING, WILLIAM c. RAINER ml) W P ATTORNEYS United States Patent CHARGE DEPOSITIIJG MECHANISM FOR CLO- SURE LINER APPLYING APPARATUS Elbe A. Wilckens, William C. Rainer, and Edward M. Redding, Baltimore, .Md., assignors to Crown Cork & Seal Company, Inc., Baltimore, .Md.', a corporation of New York Application November 14,1955, Serial No. 546,532

7 Claims. (Cl. 18-5) This invention relates to the art of closure .lining and more particularly to an improved machine operable to form a liner of plastic material or the like in closures.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a machine having a minimum number of parts which is operable to form liners of a plastic material within the closures, which machine is intermittent in its operation so that it is necessary to have but a single material chargedepositing device for the closures.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a machine of the type described which includes improved means for preventing the deposit of a charge of liner material when no closure is presented to receive a charge.

A still further object of the present invention is the provision of a machine of the type described having 'a charge-depositing device operable to deposit a charge of sealing material in a viscous state and means cooperating with the device for preventing the deposit of a charge when no closure is presented to receive the charge.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a machine of the type described which is simple in operation and economical to use and maintain.

These and other objects of the present invention will become more apparent'during the course of the following detailed description and appended claims.

The invention can best be understood with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein an illustrative embodiment is shown.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary top plan view illustrating the manner in which the closures are moved intermittently from the shell feeding chute to the liner molding dial mechanism;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary top plan view illustrating the charge-depositing station along the line of movement of the closures illustrated inFigure 1;

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 33 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view illustrating the manner in which the charge is deposited into the closures, showing the parts in the position prior to deposit;

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 illustrating the position of parts when no closure is presented to receive the charge;

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 4 illustrating the position of the parts after the charge has been deposited;

Figure 7 is a'h'orizontal sectional view of the structure illustrated in Figures 4-6; and

Figure 8 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view of a heating element of the machine.

The present invention relates to a machine which is capable of carrying out the closure lining methods set forth in copending Wilckens et aLapplications, Serial No.

497,722 filed March 29, 1 9.55, and .Serial No. 527,353

filed August 8, 1-955. 7 I

The basic method disclosed in these applications com- Patented Jan. 27, 1959 'ice 2 prises, generally, supplying a .series' of empty shells and preheating the .same, if desired, depositing .in the shells a charge of sealing material, preferably in the form of an uncured plastis'ol in a viscous state, conditioning the uncured chargeof pla'stisol within the closure and then applying a final molding pressure and temperature to shape the charges within the closures and form finished liners.

In these applications, machines are disclosed which are capable of performing these methods .in .a continuous operation. Tha't'is, 'the'movernen't of the shells and liners through the machine is continuous. The present .invention is more particularly directed to a machine, wherein the shells and liners move through the machine with an intermittent or 'stepby-step motion. The basic .mechanism for accomplishing this movement throughout the machine is disclosed in Patent 'No. 1,469,557 issued October 2, 1923, to George Goebel. The \Goebel machine is arranged to assemble cork disc .liners within closures and includes a mechanism for intermittently moving the empty closures through the machine .fromran empty shell-receiving position to a finished closure-discharge position. Accordingly, this mechanism may be utilized in the present machine to move the closures .in performing the methods set forth in .the aforementioned applications.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, there is illustrated in Figure 1 'a portion of .the intermittent closure-moving mechanism such as described in the Goebel patent. Briefly, the mechanism includes ashell feeding chute '10 which is arranged to receive properly facing shells from a shell feeding mechanis'm-(notshowm). This mechanism maybe substantially the same .as disclosed in the Goebel patent mentioned above. The bottom of the chute 10 is open and shells issuing therefrom are directed between a pair of opposed shell guiding elements 1'2 and 14 suitably mounted one main frame or desired temperature, past a charge depositing device 24 where the empty shells receive a predetermined amount of'uncured sealing material, then past a second heating element 26 where the sealing material is conditioned .and thenfiua'lly' onto a'molclingdial mechanism 28-.where the finished liners are shaped and molded underflheat and pressure.

.As shown in Figure '1, the mechanism 20 includes .a pair of elongated supporting bars 30 and 32 mounted beneath' the guiding elements .12 and 14, each .of which has 'a plurality of'longitudinally spaced, closure-engaging fingers 34 and 36 extending inwardly therefrom. The bar 3tlismoun'ted 'on 'themain frame of the machine .for transverse reciprocation while .the bar 32 is mounted for movement in a circular path. To effect these motions, there is provided a pair of rotating discs 38 .Whichtare suitably mounted above the main frame on=parallelzvertical shafts 40 in apositiori to'be drivenby a .main'drive shaft 4'2 of them'achine (see Figure 3.) a It willxbe understood that any 'suitablearr'angement of gears -or the like may be utilized .to rotate the .discs as, for example, the

arrangement illustrated'in theGoebelpatent. Extending 3 manner, the bar 32 will be moved in a circular path defined by the movement of the stub shafts 44 around the axes of the discs 38.

Extending upwardly from each arm 46 at a point intermediate the ends thereof is a second stub shaft 48 which carries a guide block 50 arranged to slide within a slot 52 formed within a plate 54 rigidly carried by the adjacent end portion of the supporting bar 30. The central portion of the bar is provided with a rigid guide element 56. which slides within a grooved plate 58 fixed to the table 16 for restricting the movement of the bar 30, imparted thereto due to the guide block and guide slot arrangement, to transverse reciprocation.

Referring to Figure 1, the cycle of operation of the supporting bars 30 and 32 beginning, for the sake of convenience, at the position shown in Figure 2, will be briefly set forth below. In Figure 2, supporting bar 32 is in its innermost position in the process of advancing the shells, which are disposed almost entirely within the fingers 36, while supporting bar 30 is in its outermost position with its fingers 34 disposed out of engagement with the shells. During the circular movement of the rotating bar 32 through the first quadrant of its cycle, the latter will move outwardly and to the left, as viewed in Figure 2, a distance substantially equal to one-half of the diameter of the shells to complete the movement of the shells while the reciprocating bar moves inwardly. At the end of the first quadrant of the cycle, the fingers of each bar will be substantially in aligned engagement and the'movement of the shells into a new position will have taken place. During the next two quadrants of the cycle of circular movement of the supporting bars, the fingers 34 of the reciprocating bar 30 act to maintain the closures between the guiding elements in an equally spaced stationary position, while the fingers 36 of the supporting bar 32 are withdrawn from their mid-position to their extreme outermost position and moved back again into their opposite mid-position. The relative position of the bars after the second quadrant of the cycle is shown in Figure 1. At the end of the movement through the third quadrant of the cycle, the closures are ready to be 'fully advanced again and the respective fingers are again substantially in aligned engagement. During the last quadrant of the cycle of movement, the bars move from the above condition to the condition illustrated in Figure 2 to effect partial movement of the closures.

The shell-transferring mechanism 18 includes a lever 60 having one end thereof pivoted to the main frame 16 and the opposite end thereof disposed adjacent the open bottom of the chute. The lever 60 includes a cam surface 62 arranged to engage a cam roller 64 fixedly mounted on the supporting bar 32 in any suitable manner in a position to engage the cam surface. A spring 66 extends between the frame and lever to resiliently urge the cam surface of the latter into engagement with the cam roller. The cam surface 62 is formed so as to cause movement of the lever to effect the transfer of a closure from the bottom of the chute to a position between the supporting elements during each rotation of the bar 32.

During the intermittent movement of the shells between the first portion of the guide elements 12 and 14, in the manner indicated above, they are brought into proximity to the heating element 22 which serves to heat the empty closures to a desired elevated temperature before the depositing of the charge therein. This heating element may take many forms and, as shown, includes a substantially U-shaped calrod 68 having the ends of its legs supported above the main frame of the machine by a bracket construction, generally indicated at 70. Briefly, each bracket construction includes a threaded stud 72 secured at its lower end to the frame and extending upwardly therefrom. An angular plate 74 has one of its ends apertured to receive the upper threaded end of the stud and a pair of nuts 76 may be threadedly mounted on each side of the plate to secure the same at any vertical position of adjustment along the stud. If desired, washers 78 may be interposed between the nuts and plate. The outer end of the plate 74 is apertured to receive the adjacent end of the calrod 68 and a suitable fitting 30 is provided for fixedly securing the two elements together. In this manner, the main bight portion of the U-shaped calrod can be maintained in any vertical position of adjustment above the shells merely by changing the vertical position of the nuts 76 on the studs 72. It will be understood that a suitable source of electrical energy may be connected to the calrod 68 to heat the same.

After the shells have moved past the heating element 12 and have been heated to the desired temperature, they are moved beneath the charge-depositing device 24. This device may be constructed generally in accordance with the charge-depositing device illustrated in application Serial No. 497,722, noted above. The device includes a cylindrical member 82 having a cylindrical bore 84 extending therethrough and a counter bore 86 formed in the upper end thereof. Slidably mounted within the counter bore 36 is a piston 88 having a rigid piston rod 90 extending downwardly therefrom through the bore 84. Threadedly engaged within the open end of the counter here is a fitting 92 having a fiat lower end which defines with the upper end of the piston a charge measuring chamber 94 within the counter bore. Mounted on the lower end of the piston rod 90 is a charge ejecting nozzle 96 which communicates with the charge measuring chamber through a bore 98 extending through the piston 88 and piston rod 90. A coil spring 100 is disposed between the lower end of the cylindrical member 82 and upper end of the nozzle 96 in surrounding rela tion to the piston rod and serves to resiliently urge the nozzle away from the member and, hence, the piston into its lowermost position within the charge measuring chamber 94. A source of sealing material, preferably in the form of an uncured plastisol in a viscous state, is supplied to the charge-measuring chamber through a fitting 92 by means of a conduit 102 and suitable springpressed check valves (not shown) may be provided with in the fitting 92 and nozzle 96 to control the entrance and discharge of the plastisol. It will be seen that relative movement of the nozzle with respect to the cylindrical member to compress the spring 1% will cause the upper end of the piston rod to travel through the chargemeasuring chamber into engagement with the lower end of the fitting 92 so as to force a charge of plastisol equal to the amount disposed within the charge-measuring chamber 94 out through the nozzle.

To enable this relative movement to take place, the device 24 is mounted for vertical reciprocation above the main table of the machine through a construction which will now be described. Mounted on the table 16 adjacent the device is a plate 104 having a block 106 extending upwardly therefrom. The latter includes a vertical through bore 108 within which a sleeve 110 is mounted for vertical sliding movement. An annular flange 112 extends radially outwardly from the upper end of the sleeve 11th to form a shoulder against which the upper end of a coil spring 114 surrounding the sleeve is engaged. The lower end of the spring 114 engages the upper edge of the block 106 so as to resiliently urge the sleeve into its uppermost position, as shown in Figure 3.

Sleeve 110 also includes a reduced lower end forming a shoulder 116 against which the lower end of a shock absorbing coil spring 118 engages. The upper end of the spring 118 engages a piston 120 slidably mounted within the sleeve and having a piston rod 122 extending downwardly therefrom through the coil spring 118 and the reduced end of the sleeve. The movement of the piston upwardly due to the action of spring 118 is limited by engagement of the piston with a split ring 124 dis posed within an annular groove 126 formed within the upper end of the sleeve.

The central portion of the block 106 is cut out as at 128, to receive one end of a connecting bar 130 which, in turn, is apertured to fixedly receive the sleeve 110. The opposite end of the bar is apertured to receive the cylindrical member 82 and suitable nuts 132 may be threadedly mounted on each end of the cylindrical member to secure the same to the bar 139 in different positions of vertical adjustment.

In order to reciprocate the sleeve 116, there is provided a'lever 134 which includes a pair of spaced arms 136 having one of their ends pivotally mounted in fixed relation at a point spaced above the main frame of the machine as, for example, by means of a pivot pin 138 extending through the arms and a central block 140 rigidly secured, as by bolts 142 or the like, to the shell-feeding mechanism structure. Extending between the opposite ends of the arms and rigidly secured thereto is one end of a bar 144 having a threaded aperture 146 formed therein. A threaded stud 148 is engaged within the aperture and has its lower end arranged to engage the upper end of the piston 120. The opposite end of the bar 144 is provided with an elongated slot 150 within which is received a bushing or sleeve 152 carrying a stub shaft 154. This stub shaft is fixedly connected to the upper end of a slide 156 mounted for vertical reciprocation on the main frame of the machine.

As shown in Figure 3, the lower end of the slide 156 may be connected with an eccentric strap 158 which cooperates with an eccentric 160 keyed to the main drive shaft 42. It will be understood that rotation of the latter will effect vertical reciprocation of the slide 156 which in turn will cause the lever 134 to oscillate about the pivot 138. During the latter portion of the downward movement of the lever, the threaded stud 148 will engage the piston 120 so as to move the sleeve 110 downwardly which, in turn, will also effect a like movement of the charge-depositing device 24 due to the connection of the bar 130 therebetween. Upward movement of the charge-depositing device commensurate with the initial portion of the upward movement of the lever 134 is accomplished by means of the spring 114.

The arrangement of the eccentric 16d and strap 158 and the driving means for the discs (not shown) is such that the movement of the lever 134 and the movement of the supporting bars 30 and 32 are synchronized cyclically. That is, the lever will complete its cycle of movement during the period of time required for the supporting bars to complete their cycle. It will be noted, however, that due to the lost motion connection between the lever and chargedepositing device, the latter will complete its cycle of movement during only a portion of the complete cycle of movement of the lever. The driving arrangements are such that the charge-depositing device is moved downwardly during the movement of the supporting bar through the second quadrant of its cycle as described above. Upward movement of the charge-depositing device occurs during the third quadrant of the rotating bar cycle and no movement of the charge-depositing device takes place due to the lost motion connection during the fourth and first quadrants of the rotating bar cycle when the closures are being moved.

Referring now to Figures 4 and 7, means is provided for halting the movement of the nozzle and, hence, the piston rod and piston during the cycle of movement of the device 24 so as to effect the relative movement mentioned above, necessary to accomplish the depositing of a charge. To this end, the nozzle 96 is provided with a pair of radially extending horizontal abutments 1.62 which are arranged to normally engage corresponding abutments 164 formed on a block 166 mounted below the nozzle 96. This block is mounted for movement in conjunction with a no-closurernoecharge mechanism,

6 generally indicated at 168, in such a way that it move into engagement with the abutment v162 of the nozzle only so long as a closure is presented below the nozzle to receive the charge to be ejected.

The no-closure-no-charge mechanism 168 comprises a horizontal sliding bar 170 mounted on the main frame of the machine above the shell-guiding elements 12 and 14 and extending across the latter. As best shown in Figure 7, the ends of the bar are provided with longitudinally elongated, vertically extending slots 1'72 through which studs 1'74 extend so as to secure the bar to the main frame for sliding movement along its longitudinal axis. The central portion of the bar adjacent'the nozzle of the charge-depositing device is provided with a vertical opening 176 through which the nozzle may extend. The block 166 is mounted on the bar adjacent the opening by any suitable means, such as rivets 178 or the like. Extending longitudinally inwardly from one end of the bar is a bore 180 which receives one end of a coil spring 1332', the other end of which is engaged within a suitable aperture 184- formed in a member 186 rigidly secured in fixed position on the main frame of the machine. An opening 188 is formed in the main frame of the machine below the adjacent end of the bar and a depending member 190 extends through the opening. The member 190 is rigidly secured to the under surface of the bar 170, as by welding or the like, and has its lower end provided with a threaded aperture 192 which extends in a direction parallel with the longitudinal extent of the bar. A threaded stud194 is engaged within the aperture 192 and has a lock nut 196 mounted thereon which is arranged to be tightened against the block to secure the stud in selected positions of longitudinal adjustment. The inner end of the stud 194 is arranged to be engaged by a depending rigid projection 198 on the reciprocating supporting bar 3% during a portion of the movement of the latter so as to effect a horizontal sliding or recipro cation of the bar 170 in a manner hereinafter to be more fully explained.

Secured to one side of the adjacent end of the bar 1743, as by bolts 200 or the like, is a block 202 having its inner end provided with a small horizontal groove 2% which is arranged to receive one end of a leaf spring 2&6 forming a part of a shell sensing means. The opposite end of the leaf spring is fixedly engaged within a shell-engaging arm 208 pivoted to the main frame -as by pivot pin 210 and mounting element 212. The shellengaging arm 2% includes a lower shell-engaging surface or runner 214 which is disposed within a cutout portion of the guide element 14 so as to engage the adjacent portion of the fluted skirt of the closure dis posed beneath the nozzle of the charge-depositing device.

Referring now toFigures 4-6, the no-closure-no-charge mechanism 168 normally functions to permit the operation of the charge-depositing device 24 so long as the series of closures moving beneath the device is uninterrupted in the following manner. It will be remembered that the operation of the supporting bars, as outlined above, is such that when the rotating bar 32 is in the position shown in Figure 2, the closures arein the process of being moved into a new stationary position and the reciprocating bar has just been moved into its outermost position. This latter movement will cause the parts of the no-closure-no-charge mechanism to move into their outermost position as shown in Figure 4, due to the engagement of the projection 198 with the bolt or stud 194. in this position the block abutments 164 are disposed out of the line of movement of the abutments 162 of the charge-depositing device nozzle and spring 182 has been compressed. As the supporting bar 30' moves through the initial portion of the first quadrant of its cycle as described above, the bar 170 will move therewith under the action of spring 182. The position of the sheil engaging surface 214i of the arm 208 is such that. the empty closure or shell, which being moved beneath the charge-depositing device to receive a charge, will be engaged thereby. Thus, assuming that such a closure is present, the shell sensing means will be maintained in its upwardly disposed position as shown in Figure 6 with the free end of the leaf spring 266 disposed above the grooved block 282. As the block moves inwardly with the bar 174 under the influence of spring 182, the end of the leaf spring 2% will be out of the path of movement thereof permitting the movement of the bar 170 into its innermost position, as shown in Figure 6, wherein the block abutments 164 are disposed in the path of movement of the abutments 3.62 of the charge-depositing device nozzle. During the movement of the reciprocating bar 3th through the second quadrant of its cycle, the charge-depositing device begins its movement downwardly, in the manner previously indicated, so that when the abutment of the nozzle reaches the block, the abutment of the latter will be in a position to halt the movement of the nozzle and, hence, the piston rod 90 and piston 88. Further downward movement of the device will result in a relative movement of the piston within the charge measuring chamber of the device to cause ejection of a charge in an amount equal to the amount disposed within the charge measuring chamber. Thus, the ejection of the charge will take place during the movement of the rotating supporting bar 32 through the second quadrant of its cycle. During the subsequent movement of the supporting bar through the third quadrant of its cycle, the no-closure-no-charge mechanism is maintained in its innermost position and the charge-depositing device is moved upwardly. During this upward movement a new charge of sealing material is drawn into the charge-receiving chamber 94 as the upper end of the piston is moved away from the lower end of the fitting by virtue of the spring 1%. Preferably, the source lining material is under pressure which facilitates the loading of the charge-receiving chamber.

The movement of the closures from one position to the next is partially effected during the movement of the rotating bar through the fourth quadrant of its cycle and such movement is fully accomplished at the end of the first, as noted above. Thus, the closure which ha just received a charge will be moved into the next forwardly adjacent position and the empty closure previously in the next rearwardly adjacent position will be moved beneath the chargedepositing nozzle so as to set the shellsensing means in the position shown in Figure 7 and permit ejection to take place during the next cycle.

The operation can be briefly summarized as follows. During the movement of the shells, the no-closure-nocharge mechanism is moved into its outermost position and back into its innermost position to permit operation of the chargedepositing device, while the latter is maintained in its uppermost position. While the shells are maintained stationary, the no-charge-no closure mechanism is also maintained stationary in its innermost position and the charge-depositing device is moved downwardly to eject the charge and returned to its uppermost position to draw in another charge.

If the series of closures is interrupted, as for example, when the shell feeding mechanism fails to feed a properly facing shell or the like, the following action takes place. It will be understood that due to the action of the supporting bars, such an interruption in the series of closures does not effect the spacing of the remaining closures in the series and consequently the interruption will manifest itself merely in the absence of a closure in a space normally occupied by a closure. This unoccupied space is maintained throughout the movement of the adjacent closures of the series through the machine. Thus, with the unoccupied space in a position to be moved beneath the charge-depositing nozzle, at the beginning of the movement of the rotat ing bar through the first quadrant of its cycle the shellengaging arm of the sensing means will be free to drop down into its lowermost positiorg-as shown in Figures 4 and 5.

With the sensing means in its lowermost position, the end of the leaf spring 206 is disposed in a position to engage within the groove 2'84 so that when the block 2'52 is moved inwardly during the initial portion of the first quadrant of the cycle, the end of the leaf spring will be received Within the groove and the inward movement of the sliding bar will be halted in an inoperative intermediate position, as shown in Figure 5. During the movement of the rotating bar through the second quadrant of its cycle, the charge-depositing device will he moved downwardly as usual, however, with the sliding bar maintained in its intermediate position, the abutments of block 166 are out of the path of movement of the nozzle abutments 162 so that the entire device including the nozzle will move downwardly and the relative motion necessary for charge ejection will not take place.

After the charge has been deposited in the closures by means of the device in a manner described above, they are moved past the second heating element 26 which is preferably constructed and mounted in the same manner as the heating element 22, as indicated by corresponding numerals. in accordance with the disclosure forth in the aforesaid application, Serial No. 497,722, the heating element 26 may be arranged to either cure a surface film on the charges or to effect a complete cure of the charge within the shell. Such an operation may be termed a conditioning of the charge prior to final molding under heat and pressure. The latter is accomplished by means of the molding dial mechanism (shown somewhat schematically in Figure 1) which may be constructed in accordance with any of the molding dial mechanisms disclosed in the aforesaid applications with any well-known driving means being utilized to change the motion of the dial from continuous rotation to intermittent rotation. Briefly, such mechanism is operable to apply a suitable heating temperature and molding pressure, the latter by means of a suitably shaped plunger head, so as to form shaped and molded liners within the closures. It will be understood that any suitable means may be utilized to transfer the finished closures from the dial and to convey the finished closures to an appropriate point of collection.

in most instances it is preferred to eliminate the second heating element entirely with the conditioning function thereof being preformed on the molding dial mechanism. The second heater is disclosed since it may be desirable in some operations.

it thus will be seen that the objects of this invention have been fully and effectively accomplished. It will be realized, however, that the foregoing specific'embodiment has been shown and described only for the purpose of illustrating the principles of this invention and is subject to extensive change without departure from such principles. Therefore, this invention includes all modifications encompassed within the spirit and scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. in a machine of the type described having means for intermittently moving a series of closures past a fixed charge receiving station, and a device at said station for depositing charge of sealing material in a viscous state into each closure, said device being mounted for vertical. reciprocation and including parts arranged to be moved relative to each other to cltect the depositing of a charge; the improvement comprising means mounted for movement into and out of the path of movement of said device for engaging one of said relatively movable parts to halt the movement of the latter during each cycle of movement of said device to effect said relative movement, and sensing means responsive to the absence of a closure in said series for preventing the movement of said part engaging means into the path of movement of said device so that no relative movement of the parts of the device will take place to deposit a charge when no closure is presented to receive the charge, said sensing means including a leaf spring mounted for movement into a position pre venting movement of said part engaging means.

2. In a machine of the type described having means for intermittently moving a series of closures past a fixed charge receiving station, and a device at said station for depositing a charge of sealing material in a viscous state into each closure, said device being mounted for vertical reciprocation and including parts arranged to be moved relative to each other to efiect the depositing of a charge; the improvement comprising means mounted for movement into and out of the path of movement of said device for engaging one of said relatively movable parts to halt the movement of the latter during each cycle of movement of said device to efiect said relative movement, said part engaging means comprising a bar mounted for horizontal reciprocation and having abutment means thereon arranged to engage said one part, and sensing means responsive to the absence of a closure in said series for preventing the movement of said part engaging means into the path of movement of said device so that no relative movement of the parts of the device will take place to deposit a charge when no closure is presented to receive the charge.

3. The improvement as defined in claim 1 wherein said part engaging means includes a grooved block for receiving the free end of said leaf spring when the latter is in its operative position.

4. In an apparatus for applying liners of a moldable sealing material to closures, means for intermittently moving a series of closures past a fixed charge receiving station, a device at said station for depositing a charge of sealing material in a viscous state into each closure, said device including parts movable relative to each other for effecting the deposit of a charge, means for vertically reciprocating said device in timed relation to the intermittent movement of said closures, abutment means normally biased into an operative position for engaging one of said device parts to effect said relative movement during each reciprocating movement of said device, lost motion means for moving said abutment means into an inoperative position in timed relation to the intermittent movement of said closures, and sensing means responsive to the absence of a closure in said series for preventing the movement of said abutment means into its operative position when no closure is presented to receive a charge.

5. In an apparatus as defined in claim 4, said abutment means including a grooved portion and said sensing means including a leaf spring mounted for movement into a position to engage said grooved portion to prevent movement of the abutment into its operative position when no closure is beneath said device.

6. In an apparatus as defined in claim 4, said device being normally biased in one direction of its movement and said means for reciprocating said device includes a lever mounted for pivotal movement and having a stud extending therefrom, and a piston resiliently mounted on said device in a position to be engaged by said stud during a portion of its cycle of movement.

7. In an apparatus as defined in claim 6, said piston being slidably mounted Within a reciprocating sleeve and a bar fixedly interconnecting said sleeve and said device.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,763,971 Kantor et al. June 17, 1930 2,287,356 Newman June 23, 1942 2,428,878 Johnson Oct. 14, 1947 2,645,383 Miller July 14, 1953 2,663,908 Maier et a1. Dec. 29, 1953 

